


Speed the Collapse

by PocketChange



Category: Homestuck
Genre: AU, Dystopian, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-17
Updated: 2013-08-17
Packaged: 2017-12-23 19:55:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/930446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PocketChange/pseuds/PocketChange
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a past catastrophe, the world has evolved into a system where a person is measured by how they compare to another specific individual assigned to them at age thirteen. Winning or losing is the only thing standing between you and a comfortable life. </p><p>This is a reader-driven story where chapters will come from comments and feedback given on the latest chapter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. John: Enter

JOHN

 

The boy in blue looked at the building ahead of him, shivering with anticipation. The Academy. It was daunting, to say the least. The glaring white marble made quite the visual statement against the crisp green grass and distant trees, not to mention the fact that this building was quite possibly the largest the boy had ever seen in his life. For the next six years, this would be home. It might have been thirteen years ago that this young man was born but only today would he be given a name.

 

Of course, the name wouldn’t be his. He already had a name: John Egbert. No, the name he’d be getting today was something rather special indeed...

 

He stooped down to take his bag in hand once again, pushing the Academy doors open. Inside, everything was clean. Pristine. Sterile. Other new students were hustling about, making their way to their rooms. Old friends stopped in the midst of the commotion to greet each other and chat about the summer’s activities and John himself could recognize a few faces in the crowd, but none he knew well, which was to be expected. He hadn’t been one to get out of the house much and didn’t really have many close friends to speak of but this didn’t bother him too much. He was pretty content with things as they were.

 

He walked up to the polished wooden desk, scanning for the ticket with his name on it and picking it up with care. S-139. The S was to be expected, seeing as all students had a small single room until they chose to room with someone else at a later date. Double or even quad rooms were generally preferred, seeing as they had a private bathroom instead of the public shower they’d all be using until they chose to split a room in the future. The numbers were more what John was looking for, and from what he could tell, he’d be on the first floor. Sighing with relief at not having to carry his bag up a flight of stairs, he headed with the crowd into the Single building and continued with them until he reached his room on the left.

 

John honestly wasn’t expecting much and was thus not disappointed. There was a small bed on the right corner of the room with a chest for his belongings at its end. On the left, there was a desk and a computer that was probably 20 years old but better than none. His first task, undoubtedly the most important task after getting his room, was covering the walls with posters of his favorite movies. This simply could not wait.

 

The posters had gotten crushed and crumpled in his bag on the way here. John had seen that coming, but it was disappointing nonetheless. He pulled them out and laid them flat on the floor, using his clothes and other belongings to weigh them down and help straighten them out. It was only then that he noticed a note tucked into the contents of his bag.  
  
“DEAR SON,

 

IF YOU’RE READING THIS, THAT MEANS YOU MADE IT TO THE ACADEMY.

 

I’M PROUD OF YOU, JOHN.”

 

Dad. That was probably the only thing John would miss about his old life. His father might’ve been a bit odd with his obsessions for cake and harlequins but they were still close. He was still staring at the note when he heard a knock at the door.

 

The woman knocking didn’t even bother waiting for a response before opening the door. She had a tired expression and looked like she just really didn’t want to be there, like anything would be better than being sent around knocking on student’s doors for whatever reason. She smelled of smoke and her hair was pulled back in a messy bun.

 

“You,” she said, not caring to know this student’s name, “all the students are supposed to be gathering at the main hall right now. You know that place where you came in? That’s where you go back to, head straight from there.” She slammed the door and John could hear her impatient footsteps continuing down the hall with the same routine. He wondered to himself if she was always this angry, or how often he’d have to see her.

 

He placed his father’s note carefully on the desk, then stepped out into the hall. Already, several students were making their way into the main hall. That lady moved pretty fast. John was pretty sure there were terrible consequences for being late, especially on the first day, so he wasn’t slow in catching up to the other students.

 

Despite this being the Academy, attendance seemed pretty small. Perhaps it was natural that it seemed this way, since students of other years were kept in completely separate buildings. Perhaps there were other Academies out there to take on the burden of teaching the nation’s youth until they were ready to pursue a career. John didn’t have time to ponder this, as he was expected to be in the main hall with other students, and it’s also safe to say this matter was not of any pressing urgency for John to figure out.

 

He filed into a row somewhere in the middle, neither too close nor too far from where their speaker stood. His skin was nearly pure white, whiter than John ever thought any human’s could be. There was no sign of hair anywhere on his head, which wasn’t so bad until you noticed the lack of eyebrows, and the brilliance of his white suit over his green sweater was nearly blinding. John didn’t care much for fashion but even he could see a problem with this.

 

He stood there for several minutes, watching as the rest of the students took their time entering and finding their seats. Now that John could clearly see so many of them he saw most were like him, not knowing anyone here at the Academy and going it alone for the first time. In a way, it was comforting.

 

After all had been seated aside from a few stragglers, the man on the platform cleared his throat to signal he was ready to speak. The hushed whispers among the students died out as one-by-one, they began to focus their attention on the man about to speak.

 

“Welcome, students,” he said in a voice that was more cold than welcoming. “Today, you begin your first day at the Academy. I am Doug Scratch, your Overseer.”

 

Some quirky girl decided this was an okay time to shout “Hi, Mr. Scratch!” from the back row but the chilly glare she got in return quickly silenced her.

 

He looked over the crowd as if inviting more interruptions from anyone daring enough, then continued. “As you know, the next six years of your schooling will take place here. You will be here even on breaks. There is no more going back home to Mom and Dad. Your new life as young adults starts here.” The faces in the crowd were mixed reactions between teens glad to be out of their parents’ house and sons and daughters who were going to miss their guardians. John felt both.

 

“You will be divided into study groups based on your floor number,” Scratch continued. “Your floormates will become your friends and family, no matter where you’re moved in the future. To make the most of your time at the Academy, I advise you all to learn how to work together.” He looked directly at a few students, as if he knew about their histories and was expecting trouble from them. “Your pair will also be someone from your floor. Please remember your pair cannot be changed for any reason whatsoever, excluding death and there will be penalties for such actions.” He paused again here, fixing his gaze on a particular girl in the front row who met him with a smirk. John got an uneasy feeling that she’d killed before.

 

John knew all about pairs. Everyone did. On your first day at the Academy, you were assigned to another student your age who would be bound to you for life and vice versa. For the rest of your life, you’d be competing against this person at random intervals to determine who was First and who was Second. In school, it was little more than bragging rights and better food, but for adults it could mean the difference between poverty and wealth. No one who couldn’t best their partner at all got very far in life. After all, what use did society have for those who always came in Second? John was lucky his dad won and lost against his pair interchangeably. It had given them a nice, middle-class life.

 

“When you get to your floor, there will be a bulletin board with a notice of all pairs. As of right now, there are no Firsts and Seconds, but tomorrow’s v-Combat will change that. Don’t get used to your current living situation. It’s about to become better or worse.” Mr. Scratch looked over the crowd once more, making the majority of the students uneasy, and when he seemed satisfied with whatever it was he was doing he said in a quieter voice, “You are dismissed until dinner.” Fifteen minutes. Just enough time to check the bulletin board and then head to the cafe.

 

There was already a cluster of students trying to find their names when John arrived, but as they found theirs and moved on, he easily made his way to the front and scanned the list for his name. E for Egbert, where was it...?  
  
Finally, he found it. His partner was some guy named Karkat Vantas. John wasn’t at all familiar with that name so he had no idea what to expect tomorrow. He wasn’t one to get nervous easily but now that he knew the name of his partner, he felt a crushing weight on his shoulders to succeed. He wasn’t sure he was hungry but he stumbled into the cafe anyway. Pizza is hard to refuse.

  
The silence in the cafe felt unnatural. Too many students felt far too nervous to talk, leaving those confident in their abilities to succeed few to chat with. John took his tray and sat across from a guy sporting some cool shades and a red shirt with a scratched record. Both of them ate in silence, returning to their rooms uneventfully and preparing themselves for the triumph or failure that would undoubtedly come with the next day.


	2. Dave: Wake Up

DAVE

 

Dave took off his rad sunglasses and flopped onto his bed with a sigh. So this was the Academy, huh? It didn’t feel like anything special. Just another boring place where he’d spend some time before the system shuffled him off somewhere else. That’s how it always worked.

 

He turned to face the wall, wondering quietly about how his bro was doing. Dave would go see him if he had any idea what room he was in. Unfortunately, that would have to wait until tomorrow. They were on the same floor at least, but knocking on every door until he found Dirk didn’t sound at all like a good plan. Tomorrow, Dave promised himself. He would find Dirk tomorrow.

  
  
  


Dave was unpleasantly woken up by the infuriatingly cheerful morning alarm of the Academy’s intercom. Groaning, he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and slowly pulled himself out of bed. Whose idea was it to play something so high-pitched and happy first thing in the morning? Whoever it was needed to be fired.

 

The cafe in the morning was much more alive than the cafe at the previous dinner. Silent nervousness erupted into loud anticipation and students bustled around excitedly, waiting for the first trial to start and with today being a school-wide trial day, there were no academic classes. That could be considered good or bad, depending on how much you liked fighting or watching other people fight.

 

Dave took his tray and found a seat at the same table with Dirk. Beside him was a girl who looked pale and seemed to be suffering from a massive headache, sporting messy blonde hair that it seemed she couldn’t be bothered to fix this morning. Next to her was a similar-looking girl who had finished her food and was calmly reading a book. Her shirt had what looked like a previously cuddly squid that was now altered to look menacing. Dave couldn’t imagine why but he felt an immediate respect for her creativity.

 

Dirk smiled at Dave’s appearance, and once his bro was seated, they gave each other a quick high-five. The girl next to him groaned and put her head on the table while her companion flipped the page of her book. “Roxy, I warned you about drinking so much on the first night,” she stated without even looking away from the text. The only response she got was a muffled groan that was impossible to make out, if she’d even said anything at all. The girl with the book must’ve finished whatever part she was reading because she closed it with a smile and set it down. “I’m Rose,” she introduced herself. “And this is my sister Roxy.”

 

Dave nodded and responded, “Dave Strider. It’s a pleasure.”  
  
“And I’m Dirk,” the other boy piped up.  
  
Rose’s eyebrows arched in curiosity. “Brothers?”

 

“Half,” Dirk replied. “But close enough. Might as well be. We grew up together.”

 

“I see,” Rose nodded in understanding. “Roxy is my twin, unlikely as it may seem. We’re quite different.”

 

Roxy lifted her head from the table, adding “In some ways,” to her sister’s statement and giving her an odd, accusing look.

 

The sound of another tray being placed on the table caught the attention of the group currently gathered as they turned to see a boy with messy black hair and black-rimmed glasses. Dave recognized him as the guy he sat across from at dinner last night. Immediately, he stuck a hand out and introduced himself simply as “Strider.”

 

The boy seemed startled at being greeted so quickly but was cheerful nonetheless. “I’m John Egbert,” he announced, getting introductions from the others gathered at the table as well.

 

“You all on floor one?” Dave asked, getting unanimous nods in response.

 

“Although not for long,” Rose added. “Roxy and I are thinking of rooming together soon, for the sake of a personal bathroom.”

 

“Ugh, no kidding!” John groaned. “The public showers this morning were cramped and awful.”

 

“Still,” Dave replied. “We’re grouped based on our current floor no matter what room we get in the future, right? It’s nice to know the people I’m gonna be stuck with until I graduate.”

 

Dirk elbowed Dave, showing his brother his watch. “Dude, look at the time, we’re gonna be late. All of us are.”

 

Egbert whined about not being able to eat because of how long it had taken him to get in and out of the public shower and it took a bit of prodding on Rose’s part to get Roxy going, but they all managed to make it on time. Barely on time. The majority of the students hadn’t even paid attention to the time, arriving at the v-Room anywhere between five and fifteen minutes late. Scratch was there waiting for them, growing more impatient as time went on. He seemed like quite a punctual man and getting such a late start on things was clearly bothering him.

 

Although a few students were still making their way into the room, Scratch cleared his throat and began to speak. “Welcome again, first-year students at the Academy. Today, as you all know, is a ranking day and thus I am here in place of your regular teacher.” Someone began to cheer at this statement and then quickly realized this was an inappropriate time. Scratch continued as if nothing happened. “What you have here is the v-Gear,” he announced, gesturing over to a complicated set of gadgetry. “You will be hooked up, you will be injected with a serum, and you will virtually try to best your partner while the rest of us monitor. The different sensors are a good indicator of your physical strength as well, so any boundaries you would have in the real world apply in there. You cannot push yourself.” Lightbulbs began to go off in students’ heads, several of them clearly imagining how they could use the digital aspect to their advantage.

 

“Please take note,” Scratch warned, “that with this being a virtual simulation we can monitor every single aspect of it. If anything goes wrong and it’s traced back to one of you hacking the system, the punishments will be severe.” His tone here was enough to make even the strongest of men flinch.

 

“Your objective today is simple,” he began again. “We’re not starting you off with a fight to the finish. Instead, you’ll begin in a camp. Each of you will have your own unique camp with supplies suited to your needs. Somewhere on the field, there is a bomb and a detonator. Whoever can successfully use the bomb to demolish their partner’s camp is the winner.”

 

Plans were already forming, mental battle strategies to employ against their upcoming opponents taking shape in the minds of the young. Doug Scratch surveyed the awaiting students with a smug smile, one more question tugging at his lips.

  
“Any volunteers?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone wants to see a specific character next, let me know! I'll be sure to do their combat in the next chapter. Otherwise, I'll work in order from the list I've made. <3


End file.
